


swimming pools

by pixies



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Lifeguards, M/M, boys in da south
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 16:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2658377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixies/pseuds/pixies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au where everyone is home from college for the summer, and zayn has the summer he never expected. includes: college rivalries, southern accents, and lifeguards.</p>
            </blockquote>





	swimming pools

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justaboat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justaboat/gifts).



> HBD TO MY DARLING BABE SHAR BEAR <333

"Zayn, come _on_. What's the difference in laying out in the sun here and going to do it at the pool?" Harry is not ashamed to admit that he's whining a little bit. 

Zayn starts counting off reasons, lifting fingers as he does so. "Can't smoke at the pool, can't bring beer to the pool, too many little kids running around at the pool, would have to listen to you fawn over Louis at the pool-"

"Okay. True." Harry can admit when he's wrong. He can. "But don't you wanna make the sacrifice and go with me cause you love me?"

Zayn glares at Harry, and Harry just grins in response. A few moments later, Zayn sighs and sits up from where he'd been laying on a towel on his family's back porch, soaking up the sun. "Fine. _Fine_." He gives in, and raises a hand to have Harry pull him up to standing. "Have you always been this annoying?"

Harry's only response is to hug him from behind as they walk inside to get their things.

\- - -

"It's actually a great pool, Z, like they offer classes and they're always staffed with lifeguards, and there's this new guy this summer that Lou says is like, the most _phenomenal_ swim teacher ever, he's taken over all the beginner and intermediate swim classes for the summer, and oh hey! Isn't your mom looking for somewhere to sign Safaa up for lessons?"

Zayn had been zoning out, if he's honest, because he's been to this pool with Harry thousands of times, but for some reason Harry has made making everyone love the YMCA his one single goal in life. He backtracks a bit and tries to recall what Harry's been saying. "Oh yeah, dude, she is, actually," he says, and accepts the pamphlet Harry hands them as they walk by the front desk of the pool house. Looking at it, he sees that it's a schedule of all the swimming lessons offered over the summer. He folds it up and shoves it into his wallet, making a mental note to give it to his mom later that night.

Louis is on duty when he and Harry open the doors and step outside, but she waves at them from where she's perched atop the big lifeguard stand, sunglasses on her nose and hair piled atop her head in a messy bun. Liam waves, too, from where he's monitoring the deep end of the pool, walking back and forth. His red shorts are slung low on his hips and he's wearing flip flops to protect his feet from the hot pavement, and he's got his whistle tucked in between his lips as he paces back and forth, keeping an eye on the group of swimmers treading water near his end.

Harry finds them two chairs in a slightly less crowded part of the pool, and they drape their towels over the back of them before shrugging off their shirts and kicking off their shoes and making themselves comfortable.

"Don't think I didn't notice that you put us in chairs directly across from Louis so you can stare," Zayn mutters, eyes closed as he tilts his face up towards the shame.

"No shame in my game," Harry admits. "Besides, you know she likes to show off."

Right on cue, Louis stands up to stretch. Her glasses are on top of her head, now, and she meets Harry's eye from across the pool and winks at him as she stretches, prompting Harry to groan as she turns and he gets a good view of her butt. "She's gonna kill me, Zayn. She's gonna kill me dead."

Zayn snorts, his eyes having fallen closed again, and tries to let the heat from the sun and the lapping of the water relax him.

He must manage to doze off, because some indeterminate amount of time later, he's woken up by three shrill whistle blows, announcing adult swim. 

Harry seems to have fallen asleep as well, and is somehow _still_ asleep. Zayn sees Louis climbing down the stand. He knows she'll be making her way over to them, and well, he could wake Harry up and warn him, but it's so much better when Louis does it.

He snorts when he sees Louis dive into the water and swim across the pool instead of walking around it, but he knows that she's probably overheated from sitting in the sun all day, and that the concrete surrounding the pool is painful to walk on in bare feet.

She makes it across quickly and climbs back out, padding over to where they're sitting and slinging water as she walks. 

"Hey, Z," she says, quietly, waving at him, and Zayn waves back, watching in bemusement as she stops walking once she's at Harry's side, sees he's still asleep, and promptly drops herself into his lap. She's cold and soaking wet and _Louis_ , and Harry reacts just like they knew he would- by spluttering and gasping.

Once his sleep and sun addled brain catch up and he realizes its Louis on his lap, he sits back again, grinning up at Louis with one eye squinted shut because of the sun glaring brightly just behind Louis' head.

"Hey, babe," he says, reaching out to grab her hand. His voice is low and raspy, and he coughs once to try to clear it. "You really enjoy doing that way too much."

"And yet you continue to fall asleep and leave yourself open to attack," Louis shoots back, smiling. 

Just then, Liam joins them, plopping himself down at the end of Zayn's chair. "Hey, y'all," he greets, and opens the bottle of sunscreen he'd brought with him to pour some into his hand. "Lou, you want any?"

"Nah," Louis answers, waving it off. "Put some on before last switch. I think."

"Figured," Liam says, shrugging and setting the bottle on the ground. He sets about rubbing the sunscreen into his arms and across his chest and torso, and uses the remainder on his face. "Someone get my back?"

The responsibility falls to Zayn, because Harry and Louis have bent their heads together and are whispering in hushed tones, Harry's hands on Louis' waist where Louis is still sitting in his lap.

"Here, Li, I'll get you," Zayn offers, and Liam smiles a little hesitantly, like he's not sure if this is gonna be awkward. "Li, come on, it's fine."

That seems to work, because Liam hands Zayn the bottle and turns around then, so he's facing the pool and his back is to Zayn. 

Zayn pours some lotion into his hand and rubs them together before smearing it across Liam's broad back and working it into his skin, trying to be efficient and get it done as quickly as possible. He can feel Liam, tense under his hands, but tries to push that thought away and focus on the task at hand. He and Liam have been doing well, as of late, and he doesn't want to push his luck.

When he's done, he caps the bottle and hands it back to Liam. "There you go," he says. "All sun-blocked."

"Thanks, Z," Liam replies. "I, uh- yeah. Thanks."

"No problem," Zayn answers, and he means it. 

Liam nods and says he has to go then, tells Harry and Zayn bye and tells Louis they've got five minutes til adult swim is over before walking back across the pool.

"How's that, then?" Louis asks, and when Zayn turns back around he sees that both Harry and Louis are watching him carefully.

"What?" Zayn replies, but he knows what she means, so he doesn't make her explain herself. "Good, yeah, I mean. I thought we'd been moving into the whole just friends thing pretty well, but there are some days where I'm not so sure? It’s just still awkward, I guess."

"It's just that he doesn't want to overstep," Harry says. "Like, you've said it yourself, its hard to just not automatically touch and stuff anymore, yeah?"

"It's only been a few months, remember," Louis chimes in. "Y'all will get the hang of it soon."

Just then, the door to the pool house bangs open, catching their attention. There's a blond guy standing there, arms loaded with kick boards and floaties, and he's talking to someone inside. He laughs, boisterous and loud and /contagious/, his head thrown back as he does.

"Oh! Look, over there, that's-" Louis starts, but then Liam blows the whistle from atop the guard stand to signal that adult swim is over. There's a rush on the pool by all of the kids who have been not so patiently waiting for twenty minutes, and Louis curses, turning to kiss Harry quickly on the lips before jogging over to her new post, which happens to be at the slide.

\---

Later, when the sun is setting and the pool is closing, Harry and Zayn are packing up their things when Louis and Liam come back over, this time with the blonde guy from before. From up close, Zayn can see that his hair's not all blonde, that it's brown at the roots and at the back of his head where it's cut shorter; he's mostly tanned but with some bright spots of red on his shoulders and nose, and he's got a great smile. He's laughing again as they walk over, and Zayn can't help but think again that his laugh really is contagious- he can already feel a smile tugging at the corners of his own mouth just from listening to it.

"Hey, guys, this is Niall," Louis says once they're in earshot, getting both Harry and Zayn's attention.

Harry turns immediately to greet him, shaking his hand. He either hasn't noticed or doesn't care that his shirt is all caught up in itself and hasn't fallen down over his stomach yet, and Louis reaches out to tug it down for him. "Hi," Harry says. "M'Harry."

Niall's eyes shoot up immediately. " _Oh_ ," he says, and reaches out to shake Harry's hand, but turns to look at Louis as he does so. "Oh."

Zayn may be mistaken, but since Louis doesn't seem to ever get a sunburn, he thinks she just blushed. 

Niall waggles his eyebrows and turns back to Harry, grinning. " _Very_ nice to meet you, Harry," he says, and Harry laughs, says 'you, too, man.'

Louis smacks Niall on the arm. "Aaaanyway," she says. "That's Harry, and this is Zayn."

"Hey, bro," Zayn says, reaching out to shake Niall's hand, too. "Good to meet ya."

"Yeah, absolutely," Niall agrees. "Maybe I'll see y'all around more. Anyway! I gotta go teach a class now, but great to meet you guys definitely!"

\---

From then on, it's a little easier to persuade Zayn to go to the pool.

\---

A few weeks later, Zayn is bringing Safaa to the Y for her swim lessons, which their mom had jumped at the chance to sign her up for.

"Nervous, Saf?" He asks as they get out of the car and head into the pool house. When his sister nods, he loops an arm around her shoulders. "Nah, don't be. You're gonna be great."

Zayn would be lying if he said that the reason he was so easily persuaded to bring Safaa to lessons wasn't that he thought Niall was going to be the teacher. When they walk into the pool, he's disappointed to see Jade, another one of the new instructors. It doesn't last long, though, because not even five seconds after they've walked through the door does he hear that laugh that's so distinctive. 

Zayn watches as Niall walks over to where Jade is, laughing and chatting with her. He's still dressed out in swim trunks and has a whistle around his neck, holding a clipboard, so Zayn can only assume that he and Jade will both be teaching the class. It makes sense, Zayn thinks, as he sees more and more kids pile in.

He wants to go over and say hi, and he almost does, before he realizes that he's only met Niall once, and that Niall may not even remember him.

Before he can dwell on that too long, though, Niall looks over and spots him, and he grins and waves before walking over.

"Hey, man!" He says once he's in ear shot. "How's it going?"

"Good, yeah," Zayn answers. "You?"

"Great!" He seems to realize something then, and his eyes widen, his cheeks flushing a bit. "Oh, um. M'Niall, dunno if you remember, Louis-"

"Yeah, Niall, I remember you," Zayn cuts him off, and Niall grins. 

He realizes that Zayn's not alone, then, and turns to look at Safaa. "Well hello! Who are you?"

"Safaa," she says, introducing herself. She steps in closer to Zayn and he smiles, his arm going around her shoulders again. She reminds him of himself when he was her age, still in his shy spell. 

"Safaa's my baby sister," Zayn adds. "Gonna learn to swim, aren't you, Saf?"

She nods, looking up at Niall. Niall grins back at her and offers his closed hand for a fist bump. "Right on! You'll love it, don't worry." He looks at his watch then. "Oh, shi- uh, shoot, I gotta go finish getting set up before Jade throttles me. Zayn, it was good to see you." He leans down then, hands on his knees, to look at Safaa. "And don't worry, Safaa, this is gonna be a ton of fun, yeah?"

Safaa nods and Zayn says bye, watching as Niall turns and walks back over to where Jade is standing. He absolutely does /not/ check out the muscles in his back and the way his shorts, which must still be slightly damp, cling to his butt. He doesn't.

\---

That weekend, Louis has a party. It's her second of the summer, the first having been the weekend they all got home from school.

"Zeeeeee," Louis shouts when she sees spots Zayn walking up to her house. She runs down the porch steps and meets him where he's coming up the walkway, throwing herself into his arms for a hug. She pulls away marginally, reaching up to take Zayn's chin in her hand, squeezing lightly and making his lips mush together. "Hi, Zayner. You're late."

"Yeah, sorry," Zayn replies, and manages to free his face from Louis' grasp so that he can turn them back towards the house, guiding her up the stairs with an arm around her shoulders. "Had to wait for Mom to get home from the hospital so the girls weren't alone."

"Ohhhh," Louis draws out, lips forming an 'o' and eyes wide. "Okay, then. That's a good reason. I'll allow it."

He leads Louis inside, where they find Harry and Liam in the kitchen, shoulders together as they face whoever it is they're talking to.

Lou decides to announce their arrival by jumping on Harry's back. He gets startled,as always, but still catches her.

"You didn't drop me!" Louis exclaims, and Harry turns to deposit her on the countertop, frowning slightly at the disbelieving tone in her voice. 

"'Course I didn’t," Harry says, and steps in between her legs. He ducks down to whisper in her ear, but they all hear it crystal clear when he says: "Never let you fall, Lou.'

"Oh, Jesus," Liam says, rolling his eyes, and then someone makes a retching noise from beside him, and Zayn glances over to see Niall standing there, miming sticking a finger into his mouth.

Since Harry and Louis are now out of the running for Conversation Participants, Zayn steps in to greet Liam and Niall.

"Hey, y'all," he says, and accepts the cup that Liam hands him, taking a sip before continuing. "How's it goin'?"

"Good, yeah," Liam answers. "Harry and Louis are toasted, obviously, since they've been drinking since 4 this afternoon, but I was just telling Niall all about the four of us and like, how long we've known each other and stuff."

"Oh well that's boring," Zayn jokes, but he looks at Liam like: _everything?_ Liam shakes his head minutely, trying not to be obvious, but when Zayn looks at Niall he sees that he's looking in between them with a slight frown on his face. "Bro, why do you have a nametag on?"

It takes Niall a second to answer, but soon the frown is gone, replaced by a roll of the eyes and a wide grin. He points over to Louis- or, rather, Louis' arms and legs, the rest of her is hidden by Harry- and explains. "That one stuck it on me as soon as I got here. Says I have to wear a nametag because I, apparently, am the only one here who people don't know."

"Yeah, well, small town and all that, I guess," Zayn says. "I'm sure you're not the only one, though, look- that guy over there, I don't think I recognize... oh, no, wait, I do know him."

That draws a laugh out of Niall, loud and bright, and Zayn thinks that he'll probably always associate laughter with Niall. It just seems to come so easily to him.

"Grow up here, then?" He asks once he's stopped laughing. "I know a bit of the others' stories, since I work with Liam and Lou, and Lou never shuts up about Harry-"

"Hey!" Comes a muffled disgruntlement from Louis, but before she can continue, Harry's captured her lips with his again.

"But I've not actually had a chance to get to know you yet," Niall continues, smiling. "I mean. If that's not like, hella creepy or anything."

"Nah, you're good," Zayn replies, waving a hand to dismiss the thought. And he knows this is probably amazingly transparent, but he says it anyway: "Actually, it's kinda loud out here. You wanna go outside?"

"I’m gonna go try to find Josh and the boys," Liam interjects. "I'll catch up with y'all later, yeah?"

Zayn feels bad then, because he'd sort of forgotten Liam was even standing there with them. There's just something about Niall that captures his attention.

\- - -

When Zayn wakes up the next morning, he's on his back on the couch in Louis' living room, and Harry is sitting on the coffee table staring at him.

"Hey," Harry says, and his voice is cheery but his eyes are puffy and red. "So how was last night?"

"Wha-?" Zayn manages, ever eloquent, and rubs his eyes as he sits up.

"You and our new favorite lifeguard," Harry starts. "Y'all were quite cozy last night."

"Were we?" Zayn asks, but he's already thinking about last night, how he and Niall had made their way onto the front porch and managed to spend the rest of the night together, as well, drinking and laughing.

Throughout the course of the night, he'd learned that Niall had an older brother, that his parents were divorced and that his mom had to made the decision to move them after his dad suddenly married a woman twenty years younger than him. Niall was still away at school, but he'd decided to come stay with her instead of going back home, which is why he's here in South Carolina now instead of back in Georgia, where he was born and raised. He goes to Clemson, so it wasn’t really a huge change for him to just stay in South Carolina, he’d said, but it was weird to come back to a house that wasn’t the one he’d grown up in.

He also learned that Niall swam in high school and almost swam collegiately, until he blew out his knee playing a pick up game of soccer in the spring of his senior year and all of the colleges retracted their verbal offers. He learned that Niall became a certified life guard when he was 16 and became a trained swim coach at 17, was the youngest one in his hometown, but quickly gained a rep for being fun and also teaching extraordinarily well. 

Niall had learned a lot about Zayn, as well; Zayn had told him all about his sisters and his parents, how his mom worked long shifts as a labor and delivery nurse and his dad was a lawyer at the only serious law firm in town.

"It's not everything its cut out to be," Zayn had cut Niall off when he'd raised his eyebrows and started to say something. "I know you're seeing dollar bills, but. Two hard working parents equals four baby sisters eating a lot of Easy Mac because their older brother doesn't know how to make much else."

Zayn had told him about his history with Liam, how they'd been best friends forever and had decided to give a relationship a go and had dated for almost a year before ultimately deciding that they were better as friends.

They'd moved on, then, talked about their colleges and majors and favorite sports teams. Zayn, being a student at the University of South Carolina, talked shit about Clemson, and Niall gave it just as good as he got it, ragging on South Carolina’s mascot and their last season’s football record.

Niall had spent awhile checking out Zayn's tattoos, too, asking him about each one and growing fascinated when Zayn tells him he'd designed and drawn a majority of them himself.

"That's sick," Niall had said, Zayn's elbow still gripped lightly in his hand, his thumb spanning over the part of his sleeve that covers the inside of his arm. Niall had looked up at him then, and they were standing closer than Zayn realized, and Niall had leaned in and Zayn had tilted his chin up, his breath catching and his heart beating wildly... and then a spectacularly drunk Louis had come banging outside, demanding they come inside to play Circle of Death with everyone else. They'd separated with sheepish smiles and nervous laughter and followed Louis in to the kitchen.

Zayn snaps out of his thoughts then, and sees Harry staring him down, a shiteating grin on his face. 

"Yeah, uh," Zayn starts. He knows it's gonna give Harry further ammunition, but he can't stop the smile that tugs at his mouth. "It was good."

\---

He sees Niall again, later that week, when he brings Safaa to her lessons again.

Niall's already in the pool when they get there, so Zayn finds a chair off to the side and pulls out his phone so he can look like he's doing something other than staring at Niall.

It's halfway through the lesson when Zayn hears his name being called.

"Yo, Malik!" Niall yells from the pool, hand cupped around his mouth. Zayn waves, is debating standing up and walking over to the edge of the pool. "What's this I hear about you not being able to swim?"

Zayn stills. He's gonna kill Safaa, he is. He loves her, but this is so not okay.

"Saf," he calls out, the slightest hint of a whine to his voice. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, Zee," she yells back from where she's hiding herself behind Niall, treading water.

"Absolutely not okay," Niall shouts. And then, a second later- "That's it, Zayn Malik, I've decided: by the end of the summer, I'll have taught you to swim!"

\---

"I have managed to make it almost twenty years without learning how to swim," Zayn says as he takes his shirt off and kicks off his flip flops.

Niall's already in the water, had run to the pool and jumped in as soon as he'd unlocked the gate.

"And yet, here we are," he replies, grinning up at Zayn. The water is lapping around his waist, and he spreads his arms out around him, running his hands through the water. 

"And yet, here we are," Zayn repeats, grumbling.

A few days after Niall's lesson with Safaa, Niall had texted Zayn and told him to meet him at the pool at ten, and Zayn... well, Zayn went.

"Plannin' on gettin' in anytime tonight, or..." Niall trails off, smirking up at him. "C'mon, its not so bad. Just get in."

Zayn takes a deep breath and steps forward, walks himself into the shallow end of the pool and farther in to where Niall is standing in the three feet deep water. It's cool and refreshing against his skin, a nice contrast to the hot, muggy, summer night.

Niall starts wading a bit deeper, til the water is lapping at his chest.

"Actually, think I'm good here," Zayn says. His heart has already started beating wildly, fastfastfast, and he knows its because he's nervous, terrified of the water and not knowing what to do in it, but he thinks that some of it may be coming from being around Niall, too.

Niall grins and wades back over to him, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "C'mon, you'll be fine," he says, and Zayn believes him. "I've got you."

Zayn follows him out a little deeper.

\---

"So how's the swimming thing going, Zayn?" Louis asks from where she's sitting on Harry's lap in the chaise lounge next to him. "Niall says you're doing really well."

Zayn cuts Harry's smart remark off with a glare, and Harry ends up just laughing, forehead pressed to Louis' shoulder.

"Okay, I guess," Zayn says. 

"Just okay?" Harry asks.

"Stop fishing, babe," Louis reprimands him, interlocking their fingers where his hand rests on his stomach. "He'll tell us when he wants to."

Zayn doesn't mention that he and Niall have another "lesson" that night after the pool closes, because he knows they'd all try to stay, too.

Liam and Niall come over then- Liam, with his ever present bottle of sunblock, and Niall with half of a peanut butter and jelly hanging out of his mouth.

"Hey guys," he says, muffled around the bread in his mouth. 

"Anyone need some sunblock?" Liam asks, and Harry nods, reaches out for Liam to squirt some in his hand.

They all laugh when he immediately turns it on Louis, trapping her in between his legs so she can't get away when she tries to, squirming and laughing.

"I know you haven't put any on this afternoon," Harry says, throwing an arm around Louis' chest and arms and holding her to him. "Now sit still so I can get your face."

Zayn ends up getting Liam's back for him again, and its not so awkward anymore. They've all been hanging out, and the two of them are getting good at being friends again, not afraid to be alone in a room together anymore.

"Hey, can I be next?" Niall asks once he's finished his sandwich. "I burn so easily, I gotta reapply like, every forty five minutes."

"Oh yeah, sure," Zayn answers, and if he finishes up with Liam a little faster than usual, hopefully no one notices.

\---

For the fourth of July, they all go to Harry's house.

"Is it dumb to get a fire going in the middle of the summer?" Harry asks from where he's standing in front of the fire pit. "It's just that mom just got this new fire pit thing put in and I've really been wanting to try it."

"Go for it, babe," Louis encourages from where she's crouched and digging through the cooler. 

A couple of hours later, they're all sitting around the fire and absolutely _roasting_.

"Jesus, it's hot," Niall says, sitting back in his chair and holding his half empty beer bottle against the side of his face. 

"Who's terrible idea was this, anyway?" Louis asks, grinning at Harry.

"He-ey," Harry says, pouting, and Louis gets out of her chair to climb into Harry's lap, smushing his cheeks with her hands and leaning down to kiss him. 

"Think I'm gonna go for a walk," Zayn says. "Get away from the fire for a bit."

"That sounds great, actually," Niall adds. "I'll come with?"

Zayn smiles and nods, and Niall stands, following him away from the fire pit.

Louis pulls away from Harry long enough to harass them with a few whistles and catcalls, and Zayn rolls his eyes, looking over at Niall and apologizing. Niall just smiles and shrugs, probably used to Louis’ shenanigans already, and keeps following Zayn.

Harry's house is on the river, the house and the water separated by a short walk through the woods. Zayn leads them towards the path that cuts through the woods, intending on walking to the dock.

“It actually feels really good out here,” Zayn says as they start on the path. “Like, away from the fire it’s not so bad-”

He cuts off, surprised, when Niall grabs his wrist and tugs him off to the side, and before he can realize what's happening, Niall's lips are on his, his hands on his hips; he starts, shocked, before finally realizing what's going on and kissing Niall back. 

"Well," Zayn says when they separate a few moments later, a bit breathless. His arms are around Niall's neck, and he leaves them there when he leans back, resting his head against the tree Niall managed to press him up against.

"Um," Niall manages, and looks at Zayn sheepishly. "Sorry, I'd just. I've kinda been wanting to do that for awhile-"

Zayn cuts him off by leaning back in to kiss him again, a short, quick press of his lips on Niall's, his arms still around his neck, before pulling away and smiling up at him. "Glad you did," he murmurs, and then Niall's pressing him back into the tree and they're kissing again.

Neither of them are really sure how long it's been when they separate and decide to head back out to their friends, but they're both flushed and smiling, lips kiss-swollen and tingly.

"Thought y'all were trying to cool off?" Louis calls out when they re-emerge from the trees, laughter evident in her voice.

Zayn rolls his eyes as they approach the fire, murmuring another "sorry about her" to Niall as they sit back down on a wooden bench. Niall sits right next to him, their legs pressed together, and smiles at Zayn.

"Nah," he says, and stretches to put an arm around Zayn's shoulders. "Don't worry about it."

When they turn back to their friends, Louis is still crowing with laughter, poking Harry in the chest and saying "I told you" over and over, and Liam... well, Liam is staring intently into the fire.

Zayn's stomach drops, a bit, but a second later Liam seems to shake it off and looks up from the fire, smiling and joining in the conversation.

Later that night, when Liam stands up to go get refills from inside, Zayn volunteers to go with him, grabbing up cups and following him into the kitchen.

"Hey," he says, once they're at the kitchen counter and mixing drinks. They'd moved on from the beers in the cooler to the harder stuff in Harry's mom's liquor cabinet a couple of hours ago.

Liam looks over and smiles at him, but doesn't say anything, and Zayn frowns. He steps in closer and hipchecks Liam, grinning when the action makes Liam spill a little bit of rum on the countertop. Liam can't help but smile, too, rolling his eyes at Zayn. "We good, Li?" Zayn asks, grabbing cups as Liam finishes with them. 

"Yeah, of course," Liam says, and rolls his eyes again when Zayn narrows his eyes at him, trying to figure out if he should believe him or not. "Zee, really."

\---

At the pool later that week, Harry manages to convince Zayn to get in the water with him. Zayn's still been taking "lessons" with Niall, but he's yet to swim with anyone else- or during regular pool hours, even.

But Harry's a persuasive little shit, and so Zayn finds himself in four and a half foot deep water, debating whether or not he wants to follow Harry a little deeper. 

He feels comfortable going out to five feet, because his head's still above water and his feet are still touching the ground of the pool, but every time Harry manages to get Zayn to go a little deeper, he moves even farther away, and now he's treading water in the deep end, trying to get Zayn to swim the last few yards and join him there.

"C'mon, I know you can do it," Harry calls out. Zayn can see the water rippling around his shoulder where's he's moving his arms. "Niall told me you could, so don't deny it."

Zayn rolls his eyes, and looks over his shoulder, where Niall is sitting in a chair at the edge of the pool, watching all of the swimmers and very clearly in ear shot. He grins when Zayn looks at him, waving, and gives him a thumbs up.

"I hate him," Zayn grumps when he turns away from Niall's smiling face and swims towards Harry.

"No, you don't," Harry sing-songs and reaches out to ruffle Zayn's hair when he gets within arms reach. 

Zayn looks over his shoulder again, and can't help the smile that tugs at his lips when he sees Niall already grinning back at him, giving him two thumbs up.

"No," Zayn admits, looking back at Harry. "I don't."

“Kinda snuck up on you, didn’t he?” Harry points out, and Zayn just nods because yeah, Niall had done just that.

When they get out of the pool a little while later, adult swim has just started, so their previously empty seats are now occupied by Louis and Niall.

"Hellooo," Harry greets everyone, dropping down onto the same chair as Louis. He situates himself in between her legs, his back to her chest. 

Zayn sits on the edge of his chair, next to Niall, and turns to smile at him.

"Hey," he says, quietly, and Niall leans in to bump their shoulders together.

"Hey," he replies, and instead of pulling away, he stays close to Zayn, legs and arms pressed together.

Liam is nowhere to be seen, which is odd, since he normally takes his break with them, too.

"Isn't Li usually trying to slather you in sunblock around this time, Lou?" He hears Harry, who obviously just realized the same thing Zayn did, ask Louis. 

Louis doesn't get a chance to respond, though, because Liam pops up then. "Hey, y'all," he greets, hesitating for a moment when he realizes the seating situation. Instead of sharing Niall and Zayn's chair, he pulls up a single chair and sits in that.

"Li, we were just wondering why you weren't trying to douse me in sunscreen," Louis muses.

"Oh, uh," Liam starts, and it looks like he's blushing. "Yeah, I just. Went ahead and did it in the locker room, got Jade to get my back real quick while I was in there. You always say no anyway, didn't figure today would be the day you'd change your mind."

Zayn laughs when Louis makes a face at Liam in response, but he doesn't miss the fact that Liam got someone else's help for something Zayn's been doing for him the entire summer.

He and Harry stay at the pool the rest of the day. When the sun is setting and everyone is leaving, the guards starting to pull the chairs back in place and start cleaning the pool, and Harry goes to change while Louis finishes up.

Zayn walks over to where Liam is sweeping the ground in the snack area.

"Hey, Zee," Liam greets him when he sees Zayn approaching. "How's it going?"

"Good, yeah," Zayn answers. He leans against a table and crosses his arms over his chest, trying to think of a non-awkward way of bringing up what he wants to talk to Liam about. He figures there's no way to do it other than to just go for it, so he just blurts it out. "Li, uh, look. Are you sure we're okay? With Ni and me, I mean, I don't even know what it is, really, yet, but if you're not okay-"

"Zayn," Liam cuts him off, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "We're good, I swear. You and Ni is a great thing, and like. I know you wouldn't ever hurt me, yeah?"

"Yeah," Zayn agrees. "But you'd tell me, though, right?"

"Of course," Liam responds, and smiles. Zayn must not look convinced, though, because Liam murmurs a quick "Alright, come on," and then leans in and hugs him tight. 

Zayn tenses, initially, just because it's been months since he and Liam have hugged. After a moment, though, he adjusts and settles into it, wrapping his arms around Liam's middle and squeezing him back.

When they separate, Liam grins and pats him on the shoulder. "Good?"

"Yeah," Zayn nods. "We're good."

\---

When Zayn lets himself into the pool late that night, Niall's already in the water and swimming laps. Zayn sits down on the edge of the pool at the end of Niall's lane, legs in the water, and waits for Niall to come up for air.

A few laps later, Niall slows and stops, his hand on the edge of the concrete.

"Hey," Zayn greets. 

Niall waves, out of breath, and then dips back under the water. When he emerges, he slicks his hair back out of his face and smiles at Zayn. "Hiya," he says. "You gonna get in?"

Zayn wrinkles his nose and nods, and takes Niall's hand when he reaches it out to him, scooting further to the edge of the pool and then dropping in. 

"Look at you, droppin' yourself into the deep end like it's no big deal," Niall muses when Zayn comes back up. 

Zayn grins at him and continues treading water, tamping down the nerves he still gets whenever he's in water that he can't reach the bottom of. He's got a certified lifeguard swimming right next to him, anyway, what's he got to worry about?

"So, um. What were you and Liam talking about earlier?" Niall blurts out after a few moments of easy silence, shifting so he's on his back and floating atop the water, looking up at the stars. He winces, like he hadn’t meant to let that slip out, and immediately continues. "I mean, sorry, it's none of my business-"

"You jealous?" Zayn quips, smirking when Niall turns his head to look at him. "You _are_."

"No, I mean, I sound ridiculous, I don't have any right to-"

Zayn reaches out to grip the edge of the pool, steadying himself. "It's cute," he says, cutting Niall off. 

"- even _be_ jealous, but- what?" Niall trails off. He stops floating and starts treading water again, so only his head and shoulders are above water, and turns to look at Zayn. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Zayn says, nodding. "Saw you glaring at us when I was talking to Liam earlier, figured you'd be stewin' a bit. But I couldn't come over to you without rubbing it in Liam's face, yeah? Just figured I'd wait til tonight."

"And you waited for me to bring it up and make an ass of myself?" Niall gasps, but his eyes are twinkling and there's a smile starting to tug at his lips. Next thing Zayn knows, he's got a faceful of water being splashed at him.

He splutters, but laughs, and when he's wiped the water out of his face and reopened his eyes, Niall has managed to swim closer. Only inches separate them now, and Zayn realizes that his heart is beating rapidly again- only this time, it's not nerves from being in the water. 

"Think I'm gonna kiss you again," Niall says, and Zayn feels one of Niall's hands at his hip, his other arm reaching over Zayn's shoulder so he can grip the edge of the pool as well. 

"Think you should," Zayn replies, and tilts his chin up the slightest bit to meet Niall's lips when he leans in.

\---

"Can you believe there's only two weeks of summer left?" Louis asks. They're sitting around the firepit at Harry's again- this time, it's a little less miserably hot. Since it's nearing the end of the summer, the temperature has dropped significantly, and the fire isn't stifling this time around. It's nice, crackling and warm.

"Shut it," Zayn groans, resting his head on Niall's shoulder. Niall laughs and tightens his arm around Zayn's shoulders. "I don't wanna think about it."

"That's all Liam's been talking about, at work," Niall says. "Had to lock him in the storage closet and make him swear to stop before I'd let him out."

They all burst out laughing, and Zayn can't help but think how flawlessly Niall has integrated himself into their little group. 

"Speaking of Liam," Harry starts, returning to his seat with fresh beers for everyone. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he's gonna be here in a little bit," Zayn answers. "He was going over to Josh's tonight for a little while."

"Oh?" Louis waggles her eyebrows. "Heyo?"

"Possibly," Zayn answers with a smirk of his own. 

"Good for Li," Louis replies. "Josh goes to USC, too, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," Zayn confirms, holding his hand up, thumb and pinky poking out. "Go gamecocks."

Niall makes a retching noise, and Zayn rolls his eyes, smacking Niall in the stomach. "Hey, listen, you. Just because you go to that _terrible_ school that happens to also be in South Carolina-"

"Clemson is not a terrible school-" Niall says, and Zayn grins, murmurs "yeah, it is" and leans up to kiss Niall on the cheek.

"Haz, aren't you glad neither of us have to deal with this dumb South Carolina rivalry?" Louis asks, climbing over and sitting in Harry's lap.

"No, we just have to listen to you two bicker about who's the better school between Chapel Hill and Duke," Niall says.

"Duke," Louis answers at the same time that Harry shouts "Go Heels!" and then they all start laughing again.

"Okay, okay," Zayn says, throwing the top from his beer at Harry and Louis to get them to stop arguing about which blue is better. "No more talk about school. We have two more weeks to avoid it, yeah?"

"And avoid it we shall!" Niall exclaims, raising his beer up for an impromptu cheers. 

They spend the rest of the night drinking and laughing. Liam joins them later that night, looking happy, and as soon as Louis sees his face she starts talking shit, harassing him about his "date with Josh" and demanding he tell her everything.

"Lou, leave him alone," Zayn chimes in, and Liam shoots him a grateful smile. "Li's got some catching up to do, though, let's get him a beer!"

Louis goes to do so, flicking Zayn on the nose when she passes him, and they all laugh. Niall turns his head in towards Zayn, nosing at the side of Zayn's head for a moment and then pressing a kiss there. 

Zayn turns and tilts his head, and Niall grins before leaning down and kissing him.

When they separate, Zayn leans his head back on Niall's shoulder, and he's... he's happy. He wasn't expecting anything of this summer, definitely wasn't expecting to learn how to swim or to meet a cute lifeguard in the process, but. He's happy he did.


End file.
